"We believe that when the universe cooled, cracks would have formed in space, and these cracks we believe are observable, says Quach, who did the research as part of his PhD.

"We worked out a way that we can test this model."

If proven correct, the predictions could revolutionise the way we view the birth of the universe.

Quach says there are currently two fundamental, but incompatible, theories of physics, neither of which can explain the birth of the universe.

"On the one hand you have quantum mechanics, which describes the physics of the very small, like molecules, atoms and sub-atomic particles," says Quach.

"On the other hand you have general relativity which describes the physics of very large things like planets, solar systems and galaxies."

While the universe is now very large, it was very small when it was born so both theories need to be unified to be useful in describing its formation.

But numerous attempts to unify the two theories have met with little success.

Enter condensed matter physics, which sees the universe as arising out of the quantum interaction of tiny particles, much smaller even than the famed Higgs boson.

"When these things work together you get a phenomenon that looks like gravity," says Quach.

Unfortunately the fundamental particles of space in this theory are so small they can't be directly observed.

But, says Quach, it is still possible to test the theory using the mathematical framework called 'quantum graphity', which suggests the early universe resembled water with no spatial form.

"As the universe cools, in a similar way that water freezes into ice, structure becomes emergent," says Quach. "You get the 3D space we see around us but also like water freezing into ice, you get defects."

Just as ice cubes in our fridge crack, so did space, the theory goes.

Quach and colleagues calculated the way light is scattered by these cracks and say that it is now possible for experimental physicists to look for this effect.

"If they do see these effects in space then this is good evidence for a condensed matter model of quantum gravity."

This theory would be more complete than the Big Bang theory, says Quach, which is based on Einstein general relativity, but is unable to explain the moment of the Big Bang itself (the singularity).